15 year old cat vomiting

DBug61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
4
Purraise
2
Hello. My 15 year old cat Miss W. has always had some food issues. She wouldn't eat more than a teaspoon of canned food and any products with grains (especially corn products) creates itching and "dandruff." She has been obese (4 on a scale of 5) since she came to me and despite always being on vet recommended calorie levels and diet food, she has never lost weight. The vets won't believe me but I ALWAYS calculated the calories and weighed her kibble to the tenth of an ounce until now and now I am measuring calories of wet food by volume.

Over the couple of years she was becoming a "scarf & barf" cat when first fed, but didn't ever eat the entire amount of food at once. I want to be clear, she did not eat her whole meal at once and this wasn't just regurgitation as there were spasms from her abdomen up...but mostly the kibbles would be semi-whole and very identifiable. She only vomited if she ate too fast. If I took her bowl away, while she was eating to make her slow down, she sometimes didn't vomit. I thought she might be getting dehydrated, so I started grinding some of the kibble and making a flavored water that I gave her before her food. That helped for a long time--at least a year or two.

However in November began vomiting again and by early December she was vomiting up her kibble after every meal. After much experimentation and the help of the kind folks at Mud Bay, I found a canned food she would eat and added it to her diet and sloowwwwwwly changed over her dry food to a higher protein food with less food kibble swelling. The only canned food she likes and will eat is Lotus Just Juicy Venison stew. She won't eat pate of any kind. She licks up the gravy first but eats it all. I give her several smaller portions and not the meal at once. If there is anything left after a portion (usually up on the side of the bowl), I add a little warm water and she finishes it. At first she was at half a can twice a day, and she voluntarily reduced to about 1/3 cup of kibble a day. The vomiting stopped as soon as she started eating the canned food--basically the same meal. We had almost 3 months with no vomiting except once when we were out later than she wanted and she ate a maybe 1/6th cup of kibble without any canned first.

I thought we were done with the problem and despite the astronomical cost of the food, I was happy for such a thorough solution. Her skin was better, her fur was softer, no litter box changes, she was happy, I knew she was getting better hydration, and most of all No vomiting. She even lost a small amount of weight even though she was getting enough food. Life was good.

Last week she vomited a couple of times and a few more over the weekend...then yesterday it was three times. None today so far...
She has quit eating the kibble altogether but ate an entire can of Just Juicy for breakfast (over 2 hours). Her litter box seems normal. No foam or blood in the vomit. She seems fine immediately after vomiting--just like before.

We have no foods that she gets into, no plants she might be eating, and she's an indoor cat with access to a second floor deck but not to any other animals.

Any thoughts at all would be helpful.
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,931
Location
Colorado US
Hi!

Is this from hairballs?

Has a vet run tests that might help determine what's going on?

Is she tending towards IBS or IBD?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

DBug61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
4
Purraise
2
It is not hairballs.
I don't know about IBS or IBD. I will look up their symptoms.
Vet appointment is later this week.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

DBug61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
4
Purraise
2
From what I'm reading IBS/IBD have diarrhea as a symptom. That isn't a problem (thank goodness). She has always been pretty sedentary, so lethargy is hard to identify. Her appetite is about the same and the only weight loss has been desirable. However, if it's possible to have this without the diarrhea, the fact that food therapy helps these cats and changes to her diet have helped her makes me want to leave it in. consideration.
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,931
Location
Colorado US
Would there be a way to (gently) get her some more exercise? Placing her food dish on a stair step so she'd need to climb one, then two...if you don't have stairs, maybe a milk crate or something sturdy.
Would she follow you around the house if you led her with her food dish in your hand?
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,442
Purraise
33,215
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. So, what she is eating now is just the canned food, pretty much? Does she normally eat a whole can over about a 2 hour period? If not, that could be part of the problem. It just seems like quite a bit for an older cat to eat in such a short period of time.

Is it possible that you got a bad batch of food, since nothing else has changed? How long after she eats is she throwing up?

I think it is a good thing you have a vet appointment for her. I don't know when she was last seen by the vet, but a full senior check up might shed some light on a new issue - full blood panel (CBC, Chemistry Profile, thyroid) and urinalysis/fecal check. A cat that age should have this testing done at least annually, if not semi-annually. If she has had recent tests, the vet can compare new results to previous ones to see if anything shows up different - that always helps in determining possible issues.
 

IndyJones

Adopt don't shop.
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
4,016
Purraise
3,726
Location
Where do you think?
Have you looked in her mouth? She might have a rotten tooth that needs to be pulled.

My old cat had the same vomiting problems and was on cerenia to stop it but they went away after the rotten tooth was gone.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
From what I'm reading IBS/IBD have diarrhea as a symptom. That isn't a problem (thank goodness). She has always been pretty sedentary, so lethargy is hard to identify. Her appetite is about the same and the only weight loss has been desirable. However, if it's possible to have this without the diarrhea, the fact that food therapy helps these cats and changes to her diet have helped her makes me want to leave it in. consideration.

Diarrhea isn't the only symptom of IBD. Some cats only exhibit vomiting as a symptom. Here is info: About IBD – IBDKitties You can discuss the possibility of IBD or other gastrointestinal issue with the vet. My vet was able to diagnose my cat with IBD with just a simple abdominal palpation and the symptoms he was showing. He still wanted an ultrasound and biopsy to confirm.
 

MissClouseau

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
1,733
Purraise
2,126
Location
Istanbul, Turkey
How many meals does she eat a day? Small meals throughout the day is easier on the digestion. Also, there can always be more than one thing going on. At her age I would be surprised if she didn't have a (manageable) digestive problem whether it's gastritis, or acid reflux, or IBS or something else. Unfortunately sometimes it doesn't take much for a flare-up. Food intolerance, or stress alone can cause/trigger IBS.

I suggest some detective work about this past week before the vet trip. Did she eat any tablescraps? Swallowed anything she wasn't supposed to including maybe a piece of toy or a string? How do you store the dry food - maybe it went bad earlier? (Last summer this happened to a big package of my cat's food. It didn't really go bad but apparently its smell changed enough that my cat didn't eat it as long as she could. It was in a sealed storage but I guess the increased humidity still got to it the times I opened for some seconds to get food out.)

It is not hairballs.
Just a note, there doesn't have to be vomiting hairball nor coughing for hairball issues. Sometimes they get nauseated or constipated because of the hair inside but the hair doesn't come up when they vomit. And it could also be the beginning of the shedding season where you live?

It's great that you are taking her to the vet. Let us know how it goes 🍀
 
Top